1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to infrared-sensitive remote control devices for activating electronic appliances, and more particularly to an infrared-sensitive, remote control switching unit housed in an adaptor structure for use with an electric appliance for using infrared signals received from a conventional hand-held infrared transmitter unit to switch the appliance start circuit between "on" and "off" states.
2. Description of the Related Art
Infrared remote control systems are well-known in the art. Systems of this kind are used to control television sets, stereo systems, garage door openers, and many other home appliances. They are also used to control electric lamps, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,330 to Diong et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,487 to Mix et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,330 discloses a programmable lamp which includes a passive infrared motion detector, a photocell and various sensors through which the lamp can be activated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,487 to Mix et al. discloses a system for controlling power to an electrical load, such as a bank of lights. The system includes a portable detector and a wall-mounted receiver unit. The portable detector determines the presence of a human in a room and the ambient light level and sends a signal to the receiver unit to supply or withhold power to the load.
Nevertheless, even with such sophisticated development, remote control technology has many drawbacks, including high cost of production, and high sensitivity to spurious radio transmission signals.
Against this background, the present invention has been developed to provide a simple, efficient and inexpensive mechanism for operating a conventional lighting system from remote locations by the transmission of infrared signals from a conventional transmitting unit to a receiver unit located in the lighting system.